1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety hook structure for a hood, and more particularly, to a safety hook structure comprising an improved safety hook for locking the hood, which ensures an enlarged buffer space in the hood for the protection of a pedestrian struck by the hood.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automobiles generally include a hood to protect the engine and to insulate sound generated by the engine.
The hood is hinge-engaged with a cowl top outer by a hinge, and is connected to a button or lever via a wire within an automobile. The hood is unlocked when the wire is pulled by manipulating the button or lever, which pulls the wire.
The locking structure of the hood includes a striker installed on a front end of the hood, which forms a locking hook, and also includes a latch installed on a radiator grill, which primarily locks the striker.
With the locking structure of the hood, the latch is operated by manipulating the button or lever installed in the automobile, which unlocks the striker.
In order to prevent the hood from lifting when the lever is manipulated by a careless driver, a safety hook structure is installed between the hood and the radiator grill to secondarily lock the hood.
The safety hook structure 30 includes, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a bracket 31 mounted on the hood 10, a safety hook 32 pivotally coupled to the bracket 31 and having a knob 32a formed on an upper end thereof and a locking portion 32b formed on a lower end thereof and locked to locking hook 21 mounted on a radiator grill 20, a fixing member 33 penetrating a rotary axis of the safety hook 32 and fixed to the bracket 31 to support pivotally the safety hook 32, and a spring 34 engaged with the fixing member 33 for applying a restoring force to the safety hook 32.
Regarding the safety hook structure 30, if a driver puts his or her hand in the gap between the hood 10 and the radiator grill 20, and then the knob 32a of the safety hook 32 is pivoted upwards with respect to the fixing member 33, the locking portion 32b of the safety hook 32 is unlocked from the locking hook 21, and thus the driver can lift the hood 10.
Therefore, the latch and the safety hook structure prevent the hood from being abruptly opened, which significantly enhances the stability of the hood.
Meanwhile, the hood 10 is composed of an outer panel 11, which is for appearance purposes, and an inner panel 12, which is for protecting the engine. A buffer space for pedestrian protection is formed between the outer panel 11 and the inner panel 12. The buffer space for pedestrian protection absorbs the shock of a pedestrian when struck by an automobile.
Since a space for accommodating vertical pivot movement of the safety hook 32 pivotally rotating with respect to the fixing member 33 should be secured in the existing hood 10, as shown by the portion B in FIG. 1, the outer panel 11 and the inner panel 12 should be closely disposed. If such a space is secured in the existing hood 10, however, the buffer space for pedestrian protection is decreased, and thus a pedestrian is not sufficiently protected.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.